Buffalo Marathon weekend is here

BUFFALO, N.Y. — You’ve probably seen the signs all over Buffalo this week for the Buffalo Marathon reminding you which streets will be closed to traffic. Buffalo Marathon weekend is here.

A marathon welcome party starts at 6 p.m. Friday in Soho to celebrate.

This is just the start of a busy weekend, from the full marathon to the half marathon, including the diaper race on Saturday morning, there is something for everyone.

More than 6,900 runners from 17 countries and 46 states are registered. This is an increase of 10 percent from last year.

Several roads in and around downtown Buffalo will be closed this weekend for the marathon.

“Roads will begin closing at 4 a.m. Sunday morning and will remain closed until 12:30 p.m., but will gradually open as the morning progresses and the last rider passes,” said Greg Weber, general manager. and race director. for the Buffalo Marathon.

“The first runners will finish the half in about an hour and 30 minutes, and the last marathoner will take about six hours, probably six and a half hours will come in actually while we clean up.”

As for security, the Buffalo Police Department is working closely with race organizers all weekend to ensure everything runs smoothly.

“We’ll have a lot of resources, a lot of police. There are things you’re going to see. High police visibility. There are things in the background that you won’t see that are all for protection of the seven thousand participants and, you know, thousands more spectators,” said Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.

Gramaglia says if you’re not from Western New York and you’re in town for the marathon, if you have any questions, they want you to ask a police officer. He says they are there to help you get around.

“Much of the route is open to traffic. They will have volunteers at all intersections, at all locations to help you cross. Remember, you will be stopped until a volunteer tells you when crossing a We don’t need any runner, any of the participants, to be hit by a car,” Gramaglia said.

There is also a charitable aspect to the race.

“The race has a heart to heart contingent. It supports Kaleida, Buff General, GVI, cardiac care there and cardiac programs. Our heart to heart runners are about three hundred, they just crossed $125,000 for the hospital and that number continues to rise I hope they will have 130 or 140 by the time the shot goes off,” Greg Weber said.

And new this year, there is an arch for the finish line. It is the only one in the country to be entirely digital. It has 96 LED panels and will display personalized videos.

Fireworks are also planned for Friday at 9:15 p.m.